Local right-to-work idea being tested in Kentucky

Published
4:57 pm CDT, Thursday, June 4, 2015

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Since he took office, Gov. Bruce Rauner has said repeatedly he wants to let Illinois voters decide whether to set up their own local right-to-work zones, areas where union membership and dues would be voluntary.

The Republican also has circulated a memo through the Illinois Municipal League encouraging towns to give the idea consideration, which at least two communities outside of Chicago — Oswego and East Dundee — have discussed in the last week.

Rauner has pitched the right-to-work zones as part of a plan to build up the state’s economy, an angle union leaders say is misleading. Attorney General Lisa Madigan has said the zones would violate federal labor laws, as right-to-work can only be enacted on a statewide basis like in Wisconsin and Indiana, as well as state laws.

Some counties in Kentucky have created the zones and now find themselves in a legal battle similar to what Madigan warns of, being driven in part by out-of-state anti-union interests who say they’re keeping an eye on Illinois, too. A closer look at Kentucky’s newly found position on the front lines of right-to-work laws shows what might happen if Illinois, which has one of the country’s most heavily unionized workforces, follows suit.

In south-central Kentucky, Warren County was the first to make the move after several years of failed state-level bids to enact right-to-work laws, county Judge Executive Mike Buchanon said. At least nine have followed.

The county’s biggest employer is a unionized General Motors plant, which has more than 800 employees and helps drive the economy for about a 15-county area, according to Buchanon, a Republican and one of the men behind the county’s new law.

“We have a strong economic development initiative, and I think this is going to make it stronger,” he said, claiming outside companies planning to build or expand pass the area by because Kentucky lacks a right-to-work law.

Eldon Renaud works at the GM plant, is president of the local United Auto Workers and was mayor Bowling Green from 1996-2001. He believes the local right-to-work zone is in part a product of changing Kentucky politics, as the state leans more Republican. But Renaud also points to the out-of-state influences at work.

Buchanon said Warren County used a model ordinance drafted by the American City County Exchange, the local-government arm of the influential conservative group American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, that drafts model bills for state legislators around the country.

Warren County hasn’t faced legal action yet, but Hardin County in central Kentucky, is being challenged in court by labor unions. They, like Madigan, argue the National Labor Relations Act only gives states the right to enact right-to-work laws, not counties. The unions have said they could sue other counties, too.

Rauner’s office has said he believes the act would allow the Illinois legislature to amend state law to let local voters to create right-to-work zones.

A Florida-based right-to-work advocacy group, Protect My Check, has promised to pay the legal bills for any Kentucky county that winds up in court. Brent Yessin, an anti-union lawyer who helped start the group last year, said Illinois might be next.

“We very likely will get involved in Illinois in the not too distant future,” he said, adding that he’s been in touch with local officials in the state but declining to say whether he’s talked to anyone in Rauner’s office. Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said Protect My Check had contacted the governor’s office, but the office hasn’t pursued further discussions.

The American City County Exchange hasn’t been in contact with Rauner or his staff, director Jon Russell said, but is closely watching what happens. “It’s not California. It’s not New York. People there tend to be a bit more open to (the idea),” he said. “You get outside of Chicago and most of Illinois is just like Indiana.”

Indeed, the village board in East Dundee, about 40 miles from Chicago, approved a nonbinding resolution on March 31 supporting Rauner’s economic ideas.

Illinois AFL-CIO spokesman Bill Looby told The Associated Press that Rauner’s zones are a “politically motivated battle,” adding that economic packages should be broader. “You would look at the budget, you would look at infrastructure, you would look at education. Those are the things that drive economic development.”

All eyes in Kentucky and beyond will be on Warren County this September, when GM’s contract with its plant employees expires. The company and the union haven’t yet started negotiations, Renaud said, and how they play out is anybody’s guess.